1. Field of the Invention
An embodiment of the invention discussed herein relates to a function expansion apparatus, such as a host bus adaptor, an information processing apparatus, such as a sever, and a method for controlling such an information processing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a computer, such as a server, as an information processing apparatus, when the main power supply therefore is turned on, the BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) performs a diagnostic process for checking whether there is not any problem on devices on the mother board. Then, by acquiring device information about input/output devices connected to the computer, the BIOS performs a detection process for recognizing the input/output devices and, after that, activates the operating system.
The acquisition of the device information is performed by the BIOS requesting it from a function expansion apparatus, such as a host bus adaptor, which operates as an initiator. Receiving the request, the initiator makes inquiries to the input/output devices connected to itself. When the input/output devices which have received the inquiries as targets give device information about themselves as responses to the initiator, the initiator hands the given device information to the BIOS.
The initiator makes an inquiry to each of the multiple targets one by one. Once the initiator makes an inquiry to one target, it waits for a predetermined period of time even if a response is not given from the target. Furthermore, in the case where multiple initiators are mounted in the computer, the BIOS requests acquisition of device information from the next initiator after one initiator ends the inquiry process.
Therefore, there is a problem that, in the case where multiple initiators are mounted on a computer, and a great number of input/output devices are connected to each initiator, a lot of time is required until the operating system is activated. See generally, Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2005-135124.